Diamond Dallas Page Says There Is No AEW Without Cody Rhodes, Talks Cody’s Exit From WWE In 2016

Diamond Dallas Page talks about Cody Rhodes leaving WWE in 2016, starting AEW, and the moment he knew that Cody Rhodes would be able to draw money. 

Diamond Dallas Page credits a lot of his success to Dusty Rhodes. At a time when it was risky to get into the wrestling portion of the wrestling industry after your 20s, DDP flipped the script and became the WCW Champion at the age of 43. 

Years later, Page has become somewhat of a mentor to Dusty’s youngest son, Cody Rhodes. Cody is a disruptor in his own right, leaving WWE in 2016 to begin a journey that would culminate in the creation of AEW in 2019. However, another area where DDP and Cody Rhodes connect is their love of Dusty Rhodes. 

Dusty was immortalized in the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007, and for many fans, Cody’s speech prior to his father’s induction was the first time they had ever seen the youngest son of the former NWA World Heavyweight Champion. Speaking with Sean Ross Sapp, DDP says that was the first time Cody Rhodes showed that he would be able to draw money. 

“That was the money. Well, it’s easy for him to talk about his dad. When you grow up with ‘Elvis meets John Wayne,’ and you respect the way you do, it’s easy for him to come off with that, but it was just, it showed right there. If you didn’t know he was money, right then, you weren’t watching that interview,” DDP told SRS during the red carpet premiere of Cody Rhodes’ new Peacock documentary. 

Speaking about Cody making the decision to leave WWE when he did, DDP says that is how wrestlers have to be in the industry. They cannot be afraid to leave and walk away to prove a point. 

“100%. That’s what you have to do in this business. You can’t be afraid to walk away. You can’t be afraid to walk away from it when it’s not serving you,” said Page. “He would have never gotten past that mid-card, ever. He would even fall down lower, and he knew that. So, ‘It’s time for me to bail. Go show these guys they were wrong,’ and they paid a lot of money to get him back, a lot of money. So it’s time to get paid. He got paid.” 

Regarding the formation of AEW in 2019, Dallas says there simply would not have been an All Elite Wresting without “The American Nightmare.” Page also admitted to enjoying some of the booking prowess that Rhodes was able to display while he was an AEW EVP. 

“There is no AEW without Cody. Without him making that statement, ‘I think me and The Bucks, and Kenny can draw 10,000 people,’ and [Dave] Meltzer getting on him and saying, ‘Now, Cody, you’re a little full of yourself. Maybe 4,000,’ and Cody said, ‘I’ll take that bet.’ That was all set on Twitter, and now he’s gotta back that up, and they did. They backed it up, but then the booking that he was doing early on was really awesome to watch,” said “The Master of The Diamond Cutter.” 

These days, DDP is still helping people with his DDPY yoga platform, available on iOS and Android. 

DDP has also unleashed his latest fitness device onto the world with the new Powercuffs blood flow resistance cuffs. Fans can learn more about that at this link. 

As for whether or not Page will step into the ring one more time, fans can read what he has to say about that here.